'Fresh Thought' Archives

What’s Better Than
a Stream of @Badbananas?
A Book Full of Them

Marching Bands are Just Homeless Orchestras, Half-Empty Thoughts Volume 1
Written by Tim Siedell and illustrated by Brian Andreas

“I wouldn’t say I’m antisocial
as much as I’d say it’s hard to meet interesting people in an attic.”

- Tim Siedell, @badbanana

About the Book

Marching Bands are Just Homeless Orchestras, Half-Empty Thoughts Volume 1, by Tim Siedell, is a light and easily read collection of select quips from the man behind the wildly popular @badbanana persona on Twitter and Facebook.

Unlike the ever-flowing nature of Facebook and Twitter feeds, Marching Bands are Just Homeless Orchestras brings Tim’s bursts of abbreviated wit, self-effacing observations and social commentary into a traditional book format — and turns them into a keepsake.

And who better than Tim Siedell, an icon himself in online social realms, to present us with a snapshot of a trend toward modern-day shortened writing forms he’s been instrumental in propelling.

“Tim Siedell clearly has no life, but he’s extremely funny while not having one.”

- Rob Reiner, famed actor, director, writer and producer

Seasonally Set

‪Punctuated throughout by the whimsical and lyrically expressive line art of Brian Andreas—an apt accompaniment—Marching Bands are Just Homeless Orchestras is a must-have memento of a cultural era in flux. It also makes a fitting holiday gift for any busy friend or loved one with a throng of online tweeps and peeps.

A One Man Brand of Broad Appeal

In addition to Tim’s ongoing thoughts on Twitter and Facebook, his work has been cited in The Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and on NPR, The Huffington Post, The Today Show, MSNBC, Mashable.com, Fast Company, PC World and Maxim.com.

Published by StoryPeople Press, Tim’s book is currently available for pre-order (shipping the final week in November) on Storypeople.com and Amazon.com.

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The Superest: Social Media
Meets Old School Creative

Superest

“Who is the superest hero of them all?”
-The Superest website

Vanquishing Super Heroes One Illustration at a Time

In an ongoing battle of one-upmanship, each post on The Superest website features a one-panel illustration of a super hero.

The hook? Two illustrators take turns, and the power of each new super hero must cancel the power of the previous character. The Superest is based on an offline game created by Andy Havens called, “My Team, Your Team.”

Wholly Exclusivity Batman!

In spite of a growing fan base, The Superest is for the most part just animator/designer Matthew Sutter and illustrator/designer Kevin Cornell. It represents a highly creative use of online social conventions, allowing many to share and comment on an experience typically enjoyed by individuals in solitude.

With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility

Unlike Coudal Partner’s popular Layer Tennis, Sutter and Cornell seem content to war on for the pure fun and camaraderie of the experience.

“We built The Superest because we just wanted a place to play this game against each other. People seem to enjoy watching, and we’re thankful for that; but turning this site into a user-content focused site pretty much sucks the joy out of it for us, because we go from being two artists having fun, to being site administrators and moderators.”

-Kevin Cornell

Luckily, The Superest creators set out to have some fun and we’re all invited.

Stay Tuned

Tomorrow Kevin Cornell answers 9-1/2 questions about The Superest site and his life as a creative illustrator.

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Fresh Look for McDonald’s

McDonalds green billboard

It’s alive—Chicago-area McDonald’s billboard aimed at a healthier lifestyle.

Leo Burnett’s creative team worked closely with a horticulturalist to create a billboard that could start with 1½-inch sprouts and grow into lush leaves.”—Chicago Business

Grow Green

Looking to promote their health-conscious menu, McDonald’s posted this billboard in Chicago’s Wrigleyville district—bringing to life terms like ‘environmental graphics,’ ‘the medium is the message’ and ‘green is the new black.’

Or Go Home

Although, at street level, McDonald’s remains unwilling to tamper with their Happy Meal marketing model that targets children. One parent’s response to the billboard, “So why don’t the “Fresh Salads” come with a toy?”

Yes, why not? Lettuce margins should certainly allow for a Happy Meal toy for the coveted under-10 crowd. A move like that might even turn other burger joints green with envy.

Still, nice promo—healthy outlook.

source: Chicago Business

[via: dgirlp ]

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What Lovely DNA You Have

DNA
From HGTV to Wired magazine, everyone is talking about DNA 11, a Canadian company that turns your DNA into high design.

It’s as easy as taking a cotton swab sample from the inside of your cheek and selecting a color scheme and print size. In just a few weeks you’ll have a one-of-a-kind DNA portrait.

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ThinkABOUT IT

Ed Illig to present

on user-friendly websites at Linking Indiana event
February 2011

BThoughtful10.com

Brainstorm's 2010 holiday site offering personalized gift boxes for friends and family.
December 2010

Brainstorm to develop website presence

for Elwood Community Development Corporation
April 2010

Caylor to speak on
social networking at the

2009 Lugar Excellence in Public Service Session December 9

Brainstorm Cool or Tool drawing winner

on Facebook: Melissa Krisanda Hennessy Congrats, Melissa!

Brainstorm: Fan up!

Drop by Brainstorm's fan page to keep up with our going-ons, find useful info, and win prizes.

Brainstorm and the Heartland Film Festival

Brainstorm is proud to be a 2009 Premier Level sponsor of Truly Moving Pictures, Heartland Film Festival.

International W3 Web Award

Brainstorm Named Best of Show in International W3 Web Awards

Iconic Site Launch

Developed by Brainstorm for Anderson University and Warner Press WarnerSallman.com features, among other iconic images, “The Head of Christ,"? from The Warner Sallman Collection - an image so famous it's been reproduced more than 500 million times worldwide. More from the Herald Bulletin article about the site.

The International Academy of the Visual Arts

awarded Brainstorm a IAVA 2008 Silver Davey for it's work on the Lumina Camino a la Universidad site.

Official Webby Honoree

Brainstorm's Camino de la Universidad: The Road to College site named a 12th Annual Webby Awards Official Honoree

Brainstorm Featured

in Step Inside Design’s recently released, 2008 Best of Web Annual for the design and development of Lumina Foundation for Education’s Camino a la Universidad site.

.think now listed on Alltop.com

under Branding. Grouped by topic, Alltop aggregates stories from “all the top"? sites across the web (that’s their story and we’re sticking to it). View our .think listing, here: branding.alltop.

BCause08.com

Our 2008 Multiple Sclerosis holiday project. Every run of Brainstorm's holiday, "Memory Machine," generated ¢.25 for the Multiple Sclerosis Society - up to $5000. It went viral fast - the $5k was just a memory by the time our holiday dinner started.

NorthPole, Inc.

Brainstorm's 2007 holiday blog parody. A new post everyday featured the ongoing drama of an entirely fictitious corporation replete with fictitious products. Items like the "iPlanet," NPI’s personal cosmos transport. Like Ray Bradbury’s Dandelion Wine Happiness Machine, the iPlanet promises a “thoroughly self-absorbed social media experience."? Our content was tongue-in-cheek, but the chocolate and gifts we sent to commenters were quite real.

CSS Developments

If you’re a developer or just interested in CSS, check out this article entitled, #IEroot — Targeting IE Using Conditional Comments and Just One Stylesheet,"? over on the PIE site. Penned by one of our very own Brainstorm developers.

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